Dan Lawlor: Rise of the Independents
Monday, July 16, 2012
What is the status of new party and Independent candidates in the General Assembly elections?
Out of the 75 seats in the RI House of Representatives, there are 22 independent candidates, 1 Moderate Party candidate, and 1 Libertarian Party candidate. Amazingly, despite the high levels of unemployment, the 38 Studios debacle, and growing homelessness, 17 out 75 seats in the House of Representatives were uncontested, including the infamous John Carnevale of Providence, a Quonset Point casino proponent who was facing sexual assault charges before the woman involved died (It's not too late for someone to launch a write-in campaign).
The RI Green Party did not field a candidate for the General Assembly races this year, though individual Greens are supportive of Abel Collins' Independent Congressional campaign against Jim Langevin.
The Moderate Party of RI has two General Assembly candidates in Central Falls-Pawtucket (Nick Gelfuso) and East Providence (Joseph Botelho). The Moderates are also supporting town and school council candidates in Burrillville, South Kingston, and East Greenwich.
“There's an old Rhode Island way of who-you-know vs. what-you-know,” Gelfuso, a lawyer who practices in a converted mill in Central Falls said. “Now, in the world we live in, it must be what you know, we need to put everything we have into building a world class education system. Rhode Island can be a model, and Central Falls can lead the way.”
The Libertarian Party of RI (LPRI) is endorsing two General Assembly candidates. One LPRI candidate, believe it or not, is the anti-Gay-Straight-Alliance, GOP-expelled, and assault and battery time serving Representative Dan Gordon.
LPRI's position is that, "Many other candidates from such political dynasties with names like Kennedy, Bush and others have experienced and, in time, successfully resolved their own challenges in their political careers. We see no reason for discrimination against such individuals so long as their political philosophies and voting records reflect core Libertarian values."
In North Providence, long time activist and candidate Michael Rollins is challenging scandal plagued Senator Majority Leader Dominick Ruggerio.
“The Libertarian Party of Rhode Island is very excited about the number of candidates running for office this term that are not the typical major party Democrat or Republicans,” LPRI Executive Board member Gary Whitney said
On a local level, radio host and Libertarian Party candidate Tony Jones is seeking the Town Moderator position in East Greenwich.
The numbers of non-traditional candidates are intriguing. Not counting Moderates or Libertarians, 36 Rhode Islanders are running for General Assembly seats as Independents. From Kenneth Amoriggi III running for an open seat being vacated by Rep Gregory Schadone in North Providence to Beth Croll running against James Doyle II (son of the well-regarded former Mayor) in Pawtucket, a range of candidates are involved. Within that group of independents is a diverse bunch – former Republicans, former Democrats, far-right activists, far-left activists, dreamers, problem solvers, and something in between – yet all are citizens who believe the state can do better. Even when they clearly are outliers, offering voters choice is important, and helps hold incumbents accountable.
Ken Block, Moderate Party Chairperson, has suggested, “In my opinion, Democrats are not Rhode Island’s problem, but the Democratic machine is the problem. Most candidates who run and win as Democrats end up feeding the machine, no matter how ‘reform-minded’ they may be. Moderate Party candidates winning elections is the only way to change people’s thoughts about the ‘truths’ behind RI electoral math. It will be an incremental process, and we are mentally prepared for that approach. ”
“There are serious challenges confronting our state, and few of them are being well handled,” said Mark Binder, a progressive Independent, running for the RI House against Speaker Gordon Fox. “Set aside the economy for a moment. We have created a high stakes education testing system that wrecks teachers and students. We have a public transportation system that founders when oil prices go up because it is funded by a gasoline tax. People use less gas, ridership increases and services are cut If we want corporations to move to Rhode Island we have to sell them on the quality of life that we offer, the beauty of our state, the energy our people have, and the honesty of our government. I believe those will produce more benefits in the long term than tax cuts.”
For new conversations to happen, for different bills to be proposed, for better laws and safe guards to be put in place, there need to be more diverse voices in the legislature.
Is this the year for Independents, unendorsed Democrats, Moderates, Republicans, and Libertarians to gain a few seats? I don't agree with what all of them have to say or represent, but I am glad they are running.
You and your neighbors decide what happens next.
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Comments:
Patrick Boyd
9:36am on Monday, July 16, 2012
If I'm not mistaken, Dan Gordon failed to get enough "valid" signatures to get his name on the ballot. His opponent is a democrat, a former police officer in the town of Portsmouth and a former member of the Portsmouth town council, and will be running unopposed.
Ken Block
11:30am on Monday, July 16, 2012
Tony Jones 'chose' to not submit his signature papers.
Ken Block
11:32am on Monday, July 16, 2012
Tony Jones 'chose' to not submit his signature papers - yet he is running a write-in campaign. Very strange - as if it isn't hard enough to not run as a Dem or GOP. Might as well make it impossible by not having your name on the ballot!
Captain Blacksocks
12:48pm on Monday, July 16, 2012
Ken Block, I agree with nearly everything the Modereate Party stands for, and you were an outstanding candidate in the last election. My concern is that the Moderate Party candidates tend to dilute the RI republican vote. If there was not a Moderate candidate on the ballot, wouldn't the voters tend to vote for the republican? So isnt each vote for Moderate a vote that would have gone to republican. Splitting the vote that way can be very damaging which is why we ended up with Chafee instead of Robitaille. I suppose it could be argued that the Moderate Party swung the vote to Chafee? If it's going to be a close election in Nov, isn't that a promblem once more?
Ken Block
2:01pm on Monday, July 16, 2012
Captain -
I believe your analysis is wrong. As many noatable liberals told me they voted for me as did notable conservatives.
The beautiful thing about running in the middle of the political spectrum is that your platform has broad appeal across the political spectrum. That broad appeal translates into votes when voters begin measuring the candidates not on party affiliation but based on the merits.
I know I took votes that otherwise would have gone to Chafee - just as I took votes that otherwise would have gone to Robitaille. I must say that I am pretty sure that most of my votes very likely came from Caprio.
In the legislative races with Moderate candidates this cycle, there are no GOP candidates. It will be a straight up Dem v. Mod contest.
Lastly, there just aren't a lot of GOP legislators up at the State House. Why is that? Maybe the lack of a platform and a national GOP message that does not resonate well with the majority of RI voters is part of the problem. If the decks are cleared for a GOP that has been unable to significantly increase its number of seats on Smith Hill because the MPRI does not run candidates, will RI be in a better place in terms of our democracy? I think not.
Captain Blacksocks
6:41pm on Monday, July 16, 2012
Ken -- I hope your party takes as many seats away from dems as possible. Good luck! I just hope at the same time your party doesn't take 2% of the republican votes that would make the difference in replacing a dem with a republican. The general assembly desperately needs to rid itself of the same old dems, and we need a two party or even three parties serving in reasonable numbers in the GA before any real change will happen. Have to say....i do think Robitaille would have won by a thin margin if had been only he, Caprio and Chafee on the ballot. I'm crying over spilled milk.
Common Sense RI
9:52pm on Monday, July 16, 2012
The Moderate Party is a great idea in theory but terrible in practice. Block can pretend all he wants but the reality is had he not been in the race we would have Governor Robitaille not Goovernor Chafee. No doubt there are a few erstwhile Chafee voters that went for Block but they are few and far between. Block can delude himself but he isn't deluding the rest of us.